Technology

=78 Reasonable Questions to Ask about Any Technology=
''originally by Jacques Ellul, {{ISBN|978-0394703909|The Technological Society}}, Random House, 1967, as published by Clamor Magazine'' ([http://www.thewords.com/articles/ellul76quest.htm Original version])

==Ecological==

*What are its effects on the health of the planet and of the person? 
*Does it preserve or destroy biodiversity? 
*Does it preserve or reduce ecosystem integrity? 
*What are its effects on the land? 
*What are its effects on wildlife? 
*How much and what kind of waste does it generate? 
*Does it incorporate the principles of ecological design? 
*Does it break the bond of renewal between humans and nature? 
*Does it preserve or reduce cultural biodiversity? 
*What is the totality of its effects—it's "ecology"?  

==Social==

*Does it serve community? 
*Does it empower community members? 
*How does it affect our perception of our needs? 
*Is it consistent with the creation of a communal, human economy? 
*What are its effects on relationships? 
*Does it undermine conviviality? 
*Does it undermine traditional forms of community? 
*How does it affect our way of scene and experiencing the world? 
*Does it foster a diversity of forms of knowledge? 
*Does it build on, or contribute to, the renewal of traditional forms of knowledge? 
*Does it serve to commodify knowledge or relationships? 
*To what extent does it redefine reality? 
*Does it to raise a sense of time and history? 
*What is its potential to become addictive? 

==Moral==

*What values does its use foster? 
*What is gained by its use? 
*What are its effects beyond its ability to the individual? 
*What is lost in using it? 
*What are its effects on the least person in the society? 

==Aesthetic==

*Is it ugly? 
*Does cause ugliness? 
*What noise does it make? 
*What pace does it set? 
*How does it affect quality of life (as distinct from standard of living)? 

==Practical==

*What does it make? 
*Who does it benefit? 
*What is its purpose? 
*Where was produced? 
*Where is it used? 
*Where must go when it's broken or obsolete? 
*How expensive is it? 
*Can it be repaired? By an ordinary person? 
*What is the entirety of its cost—the full cost accounting? 

==Ethical==

*How complicated is it? 
*What does it allow us to ignore? 
*To what extent does it distance agents from effect? 
*Can we assume personal, or communal, responsibility for its effects? 
*Can its effects be directly apprehended? 
*What ancillary technologies does it require? 
*What behavior might it make possible in the future? 
*What other technologies might it make possible? 
*Does it alter our sense of time and relationships in ways conducive to nihilism? 

==Vocational==

*What is its impact on craft? 
*Does it reduce, deaden, or enhance human creativity? 
*Is it the least imposing technology available for the task? 
*Does it replace, or does it aid, human hands and human beings? 
*Can it be responsive to organic circumstance? 
*Does it depress or enhance the quality of goods? 
*Does it depress or enhance the meaning of work? 

==Political==

*What is its mystique? 
*Does it concentrate or equalize power? 
*Does it require, or institute, a knowledge elite? 
*Is it totalitarian? 
*Does it require a bureaucracy for its perpetuation? 
*What legal empowerments does it require? 
*Does it undermine traditional moral authority? 
*Does it require military defense? 
*Does it enhance, or serve, military purposes? 
*How does it affect warfare? 
*Does it foster a mass thinking or behavior? 
*Is it consistent with the creation of global economy? 
*Does it empower transnational corporations? 
*What kind of capital does it require? 

==Metaphysical==

*What aspect of the inner self does it reflect? 
*Does it express love? 
*Does it express rage? 
*What aspect of our past does it reflect? 
*Does it reflect cynical or linear thinking? 

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[[Category:Technology]]